Crouching Malice
by Codename Deus
Summary: Yutaka Keiji is an aspiring ninja who is willing to put his life on the line in tough situations. Even he finds it difficult to take when he finds a little girl he thinks has been missing for 3 years.
1. 3 years ago

3 years ago:

**3 years ago:**

A young girl of 6 made her way home from school. She was wearing a traditional dark blue dress that went down to her knees. She had black hair that was at shoulder length. She was also clutching a backpack adorned proudly with the All That Remains logo.

"Freak!" Yelled a young boy of a similar age. The girl ignored the taunts coming from this boy and his friends.  
"Weirdo!" Shrieked another girl. The girl looked at her.  
"Oh no the freak looked at me!" Screamed the other girl in delight as laughter filled the vicinity.  
"What are you gonna try next, Lucy? Are you gonna summon the boogeyman?" Taunted that boy.  
"No I think that boogeyman you'll find is actually her mother." Said that girl again which was quickly followed by a chorus of ooohs and then laughter.

For Lucy, this happens everyday. She is used to it, though it gets gradually worse with every passing day.  
Lucy continued walking home regardless of the unwanted attention she was receiving. The bullies had now started pelting her with cans and coins. Lucy just continued to ignore them. She had finally reached her home providing safe haven for her from the bullies. Or so you'd think. Lucy entered her house and her mother was sat at the table in the kitchen. She completely ignored Lucy as Lucy walked past her. Lucy made her way upstairs and into her room where she immediately opened the CD space on her boom box whereupon she placed her All That Remains album This Darkened Heart. Then to her it seemed like bliss as she sat on her bed and chilled as the metal music played out loud from her boom box. Lucy lay on her bed as she could finally relax. Or so she thought. See, Lucy and her mother have never been on the best of terms and today was no exception.  
"Lucy turn that shit off!" Her mother yelled up the stairs. Lucy ignored her mum completely and continued listening to her music.  
"Lucy did you hear what I said you little bitch?" Her mother shouted from the stairs.  
"Fuck you!" Lucy retorted maliciously.  
"What did you say?" Her mother asked with her voice sounding much angrier than before.  
"I said fuck you!" Lucy replied again sounding harsh. Her mother went away into the kitchen as Lucy continued lying back on her bed.  
Then her mother burst through her bedroom door with a flick knife in her hand. Lucy looked up in shock at her mother. Then she looked at the flick knife, sat up on her bed and cowered in the corner of it.  
"Please I'm sorry…" Lucy said panicking.  
"To late now you little bitch!" retorted her mother. Lucy looked panicked and her mother could see her frightened look in her eyes. Her mother wore an evil looking smile on her face.  
"Why do you never talk?" taunted Lucy's mother. Lucy burst into tears as she looked at her seemingly crazed mother.  
"Are we crying now?" taunted Lucy's mother.  
"Please…" Lucy pleaded.  
"I told you Lucy, it's too late!" yelled her mother.  
"No…" Lucy cried as her mother swiped at her with the flick knife. It slashed across Lucy's right lower arm just under her elbow, leaving an angry looking slash. It was the latest addition to Lucy's many scars on both her arms and legs. Blood started making its way down her arm and dripping onto her bed. Her mother smirked as she walked out of the room, leaving Lucy to tend to her wound as she cried her eyes out.

Lucy had now had enough. After years of abuse at home and at her school, Lucy had finally decided that she cannot take it anymore. So she hopped out of her bed and picked up her favourite bag, the one adorned with the All That Remains logo. Her heart had been broken for many years through this abuse.  
Lucy picked up her CDs, her walkman and her mp3 player and put them in her bag. Her cut still pumping blood down her now numb and weakened right arm and stained the carpet underneath her. Lucy put her pillow and her duvet cover in her bag along with her favourite doll which she calls Alissa.  
After she finishes gathering her belongings with them safely in her bag, Lucy exits her bedroom for the last time. She made her way downstairs into the kitchen where her mum was washing Lucy's blood off of her flick knife. Lucy looked at her mother through her teary and frightened looking eyes as Lucy's sister Mia walked through the door. The eight year old immediately looked at Lucy's arm which still pumped out blood down her arm leaving a blood trail behind her.  
Lucy looked at Mia with her blue eyes before she looked back at her mother before she left the house, leaving her cut exposed hoping someone would see the hell she was going through. However no one did. Lucy slipped off into the woods near the village of Kurokomuzai where she lived and no one has seen her since……

2 Days Later:

"……..As Lucy has now been missing for two days now. Her mother Francine has stated that her sister Mia and brother Louis have been missing her a lot. She also stated it is not the same at home without Lucy. She was last seen wearing a blue dress, clutching a black bag with the metal band All That Remains' logo on it, one of her favourite musicians. She was also seen with a cut on her arm just under the elbow, something Francine said was an accident in the kitchen. Although Lucy is missing, sources say the six year old has not been abducted." Blared the TV news reporter as the news of Lucy's disappearance was fast traveling around the world.

1 year later:

"…..It has been a whole year today since young Lucy's disappearance. Today marks the first anniversary of the now would be seven year olds' disappearance. It is becoming increasingly unlikely that Lucy will be found alive. Her mother Francine and her sister Mia and brother Louis are desperate for her to return home safe and well." Blared the same news reporter on the anniversary of Lucy's disappearance the year before. The entire world anxious to know on her well being.


	2. Present Day

Present Day:

**Present Day:**

Yutaka Keiji looked into the eyes of his enemy.  
"See into the eyes of the ninja, and you will see the Golden Dragon standing before you." He said in his heavy Japanese accent. His enemy was fallen flat on the ground, on his stomach with numerous cuts from the intense battle that he had been a part of.  
"Please I beg of you. I never wanted to harm. I wanted to protect." His enemy pleaded.  
"Then you joined the wrong clan. You must be silenced for the good of ninjutsu." Yutaka declared. He raised his sword, engraved with the symbol of his clan, the Golden Dragon. Then he brought it down on his enemy's neck, promptly decapitating him as blood sprayed across the floor and the nearby walls.  
"Now you mean no harm." Yutaka said to the severed head as it lay on its side next to its former owner.  
He sheathed his sword and put it in the holster on his back as he continued on his journey. He was to be briefed at Golden Dragon's Headquarters on his next mission. The Headquarters is based nearby, in the village of Kuromokuzai.  
Yutaka made his way toward the HQ through the wooded areas and kept his guard up in case of another enemy ambush. This time he had a lucky escape. Yutaka proceeded to the Golden Dragon Headquarters where he was briefed by his father Itachi.  
"I have received word that some minions of the Black Mamba Clan have been seen in an old shack in a nearby meadow. They are also with their leader. This is our chance to obtain information regarding their aims and their motives." Itachi explained in his also heavy Japanese accent.  
"I am ready for them." Said Yutaka determined.  
"Do not go all gung-ho, Yutaka. They will be ready for you." Itachi stated.  
"I know, father and I will be fully aware of their actions." Yutaka replied.  
"Very well. You will have to make your way through the Black Woods to reach them." Itachi explained to his son.  
"No problem, father. I will be there." stated Yutaka.  
"Very well. Now, you must go." Itachi said. Yutaka made his way out of his clan's Headquarters. It was now dark and Yutaka looked at the inky black sky.  
"They won't see me so easily." He muttered to himself noting that he was clad in a black ninja suit, matching the colour of the sky.  
He made his way to the Black Woods. There was a low fog in abundance as he began to trawl through the woods.  
A figure ran between the trees in the distance and Yutaka put himself on guard. He continued walking through the woods regardless although he was still on guard.  
Suddenly a sword plunged into the back of Yutaka's left leg just below the knee. Yutaka fell to the floor immediately and clutched his leg as blood spurted out of the wound onto the soil. The enemy that possessed the sword made his way towards the stricken Yutaka.  
"Ready to see the depths of hell, puny ninja?" Taunted the enemy as he raised his sword above Yutaka ready for the kill. Then his enemy stopped in his tracks as something sliced through his neck. Yutaka looked up at his enemy as blood poured from his mouth. Soon enough, the minion's head parted from his body and landed in front of Yutaka and blood sprayed on the soil from the now headless body.  
"Fuck this." Yutaka exclaimed as he examined his enemy's body.  
"I'll thank whoever saved my ass if I ever see them." He muttered to himself. He plucked out his first aid bag from his pocket and bandaged his wound. Then he carried on from where he left off, albeit with a heavy limp. Yutaka continued through the woods with his guard up and his sword out in case of another super aware minion springing out of nowhere.  
Yutaka's leg gave way and he fell to the ground. He crawled up to the trunk of a tree and sat against it. He rested a while. Yutaka looked around some and he looked to his side. He saw long black hair spread out on the soil beside him. Then after a little while the hair moved slowly back into the darkness behind him, accompanied with a voice whispering  
"I know you." It sounded like a little girl. Yutaka wondered why somebody so young would be out in the dangerous woodland at night.  
Then Yutaka heard somebody run away. He got up and regardless of the state of his leg ran after the person using his ears as well as his eyes due to the murky darkness and the low fog. He could see nothing and the sound of the footsteps were rapidly fading away. Then his leg gave way again causing him to crash to the ground.  
When he looked up, he saw objects levitating in the air, followed by what sounded like a little girl's giggle. Yutaka tensed and crawled to a tree so no one could attack him from behind. Soon though, the levitating stopped.  
Yutaka decided to make a campfire and set up his tent to get some rest for the night. As he settled down inside the tent, the fire went out. Yutaka zipped up his tent enclosing him inside. He lay back in his sleeping bag again. A shadow passed by one side of his tent and he heard footsteps accompanying it. Yutaka tensed and pulled out his sword just in case. Then the zip aligning the tent's entrance became undone, opening the entrance to the tent. Funny thing was, no one was there. Yutaka kept his eyes focussed on the campfire area in front of the tent. A small child sized figure wearing blue passed in front of the tent accompanied with the same sounding playful giggle that Yutaka had already heard once tonight.  
The sound of footsteps began to fade and Yutaka though tensed, tried to take in all that just happened. "What was that?" He asked himself quietly. He dusted himself down, closed the entrance to the tent again and made himself comfortable in his sleeping bag and a little while later closed his eyes for the night.


	3. Creep

Creep:

**Creep:**

Yutaka awakens. He opens the tent and looks outside. Birds are singing and the sun is up, its rays penetrating through the trees. Yutaka packed up his belongings and took down the tent packing it neatly into his backpack.

Then he got up, seemingly oblivious to the state of his bandaged left leg. He made his way towards the enemy clan's encampment out the other side of the Black Woods. From there he could see the Black Mamba clan's camp was well guarded and organised. Yutaka could not just rush in and expect the clan to bow down before him. So he had to create a plan from scratch and strategically pick them off. He stealthily made his way through the meadow's long grass which he uses to his advantage.

He notices a minion nearby patrolling an area further in front of the enemy clan's encampment. So he crouches within the long grass and grabs a Shuriken from his belt. He raised his head above the grass momentarily to vision where the minion is inside his head.

The minion suddenly looked over to Yutaka's location, though luckily he had crouched down into the grass again. The enemy clan's minion began to trudge over towards Yutaka, but at that moment a Shuriken had lodged itself between his eyes, causing blood to start dripping heavily down his face almost immediately. The minion's eyes had become diluted and frozen with shock. Time seemed to freeze with him as the Katana he was carrying seemed to fall from his grasp very slowly.

Yutaka rushed over towards the dead minion who was still standing to retrieve his Shuriken. He began to pull it out as it was also nestled deep within the minion's skull and had penetrated his brain. Yutaka pulled the Shuriken out and it was stained with blood. Blood now flowed heavily down the minion's face and was also spraying out of the wound like your common park water fountain. Yutaka watched as the minion's corpse finally fell to the ground still spraying blood. A satisfied grin had crossed Yutaka's face.

Suddenly he felt a Katana plunge into his back and Yutaka felt a sharp pain envelope him completely. He fell to his hands and knees as blood trickled from his mouth onto the grass. Yutaka's vision became blurred and he soon lost consciousness.

When he regained consciousness he had his hands tied to a chair and his legs locked in place. Three Black Mamba clan minions greeted him in an entirely unfriendly way. One mockingly slapped his face viciously.

"Talk fucker!" Demanded another in typically heavy Japanese accent. Yutaka spat blood at his face and replied with:

"Fuck you!" The first one slapped him again, only harder this time. Yutaka looked angrily back at him and said:

"Is that the best you've got?" While the minion hit back with:

"No, I could chop off your head if that's what you'd like."

Yutaka ignored him and looked around the shack they were in. One small light protruded from the ceiling as it barely lit the inside of the shack. In fact the sun cast a larger amount of light through the lone window and illuminating the wall with a deep shade of orange.

"I want to know what the Golden Dragon clan's motives are!" Ordered one of the minion trio. Yutaka ignored him.

"Now!" Ordered another.

"Why would I answer to you?" Yutaka replied as he chuckled harshly.

"Otherwise I will collect your fucking head!" Declared the third maliciously.

Suddenly as if by irony something had sliced through his head at the mouth. The minion coughed up blood onto the dirty floor. A red line formed across his face on either side of his mouth as it continued around his head. Soon enough the top half of his head slid off onto the floor as blood sprayed heavily out of the stump, splattering across the walls and pooling on the floor.

The two remaining minions suddenly looked panicked and as the mostly headless minion's corpse fell to the ground Yutaka heard a voice.

"Oops that was slightly misjudged. Oh well!" It chimed. It sounded like a playful little girl's voice. Sure enough Yutaka saw a little girl by the doorway. She stood there with her long greasy black hair hanging over her face. Yutaka also noted she was wearing a traditional dark blue dress that went down to her knees.

Yutaka could not gain anymore information about her before he suddenly and abruptly blacked out again.

He slowly regained consciousness and he felt somebody tug on the handcuffs that bound him to the chair in an attempt to get them off.

"It was I who was abused." Said that playful little girl's voice, though now as a whisper. Yutaka determined it was the little girl tugging on the handcuffs.

"I don't understand…" Yutaka said puzzled as the handcuffs slid cleanly off his hands.

He began to tug maliciously at the leg lock as he tried to get them off. Eventually he succeeded.

As he got to his feet he stepped in water. Only it wasn't traditional water, it was blood. The whole of the floor in the shack was soaked in blood and Yutaka noticed the other two minions were viciously killed. One had a slit throat with blood covering his clothing and the other was cut in half across the torso and Yutaka winced looking at the entrails hanging out from the torso.

He looked up and saw the little girl again by the doorway, clutching a doll and a silver bladed weapon similar to a large Shuriken with one less blade. This was stained with blood. Suddenly the girl ran out of the door into the meadow. Yutaka reacted fast and collected his sword which lay on the floor. He then ran out into the meadow after her.

"Wait please!" He yelled desperately. It was no good. Yutaka could not see her through the long grass. What was once his ally was now his enemy. Yutaka stopped running, almost forgetting the wound on his back. So he sat in the grass and bandaged the wound up the best he could. After he had done this Yutaka headed back to the Black Woods.

The sun was setting as it cast a pinkish hue across the sky. Yutaka began to make his way through the Black Woods. He was heading back to the Headquarters of his clan Golden Dragon.

After a while he exited the woodland and near to base. It was then he saw a small figure out of the corner of his eye as it stood on the pavement across the road near one of the village houses. As Yutaka looked across again he could see it was the little girl who he saw at the shack. Her dark messy hair hung over her face. Yutaka felt awkward as he wanted to talk to her but he knew if he tried to cross the road that she would run off again. So he had to return to his clan's Headquarters, he would chase after her later…..


	4. It Is She Who Followed Me

It is she who followed me:

**It is she who followed me:**

Yutaka Keiji climbed the stairs to the Headquarters and was greeted by his father Itachi.

"Are you OK, Yutaka?" He asked.

"Of course, father!" Yutaka replied.

"You wish to tell me something?" Itachi asked.

"Yes! Four minions were killed. Although I killed only one." Yutaka replied. "Do not worry, Yutaka there must be an explanation." Itachi said.

"There is a little girl outside. I've been chasing her but I think she's scared. She also said 'it was I who was abused' to me. I don't know what she was on about." Yutaka replied frightened. Another ninja chimed in:

"There was a little girl who went missing from this village three years ago. She couldn't have survived on her own for this long. The whole village has given up on finding her now."

Yutaka thought for a moment.

"What was her name?" He asked.

"I cannot remember, it's been a long time since I last saw a news report about her." Replied the other ninja as honestly as he could.

Yutaka cursed his luck but did not blame the other ninja.

Thunderclouds were now overhead and it was pouring with rain outside as forked lightning shot across the sky as if it was a crazed firework.

"I must find her, father!" Yutaka declared.

"Yutaka just sit and rest and we can talk about it in the morning." Itachi said holding Yutaka back.

"No, father I cannot! I must find her now!" Yutaka demanded.

His father backed away and reluctantly agreed. Yutaka exited the Headquarters, down the stairs into the pouring rain. Lightning continually shot across the sky as the rain thrashed down on Yutaka.

He continued on his way back to the Black Woods regardless of the adverse weather conditions.

His mind kept on playing through what the fellow Golden Dragon ninja had told him. "There was a little girl who went missing from this village three years ago." Said the voice inside his head. "She couldn't have survived on her own for this long." It continued. The voice kept on repeating itself inside Yutaka's head.

After a while, Yutaka approached the Black Woods and Yutaka looked at the trees which shook violently with the wind.

Yutaka began to trawl through the woods and saw a child sized figure dart between the trees in the near distance. Yutaka tensed.

"That must be her." He muttered to himself. He quickened his pace a little as low fog dominated the woodland again and with the rain still thrashing down all the soil had turned mushy underfoot, causing Yutaka's feet to sink into the soil slightly making Yutaka take heavier steps.

Suddenly he could hear crying in the distance. Yutaka used his ears to find the source of the sobbing. It sounded child like. He ran stealthily through the mushy soil making as little noise as possible. He noticed the crying was now clearer for him to hear which means he must be getting close.

He started frantically looking around as the continued sobbing became even clearer. After a while Yutaka came to a tree slightly larger than the rest around it and he used his ears to guide him.

Yutaka looked behind the large tree and there sitting on the soil slumped against the tree was a child wearing a blue dress and had long soaked black hair that hung over her face. Her head was bowed as she looked down at the soil through her hair as the rain thrashed down on the soil. Yutaka had found her. He crouched down gently next to her and her head slowly turned. She looked at Yutaka and moved back a bit from fright as her crying became more panicked. Yutaka could see she was sitting on her weapon that he saw her clutching at the shack earlier that day. Yutaka could also see she was frightened.

"Please…don't worry. I am not here to hurt you; I am here to help you." He said calmly and as reassuringly as he could.

The little girl looked at him seriously as she began to think. Yutaka saw tears rolling down her cheeks which were partially visible from behind her wrangled, stringy dark hair.

After a little while Yutaka said: "Please let me help you." The little girl brushed her hair away from her face with her hand. Her eyes were two shades of red, with the inner area around her pupils being a bright almost pale shade of red with the rest of her eyes being of a more blood like red.

Her lips were dry and sore and her skin was pale. She had numerous scars across her arms and legs, one particular scar stood out from the rest. It was large and located under her right elbow. Her dress looked worn and tattered and covered in soil.

She also wore an old looking watch on her right arm which surprisingly still worked. She was wearing nothing on her feet which were covered in mushy soil.

She looked at Yutaka again with her demon like eyes that unnerved Yutaka somewhat.

"Could you tell me what your name is?" Yutaka asked her. She looked down at the soil and replied in a faint but clear whisper:

"Lucy."

Yutaka crouched nearer to her as she looked back at him again.

"Are you the little girl who went missing three years ago?" He asked her softly. Lucy ignored him.

"Please could you tell me?" He asked her seriously. Lucy shook her head meaning no. She sat against the tree with her head bowed again. Her hair began to dangle over her face again concealing part of her face from view.

Yutaka looked at her and said:

"I'm going to get you somewhere warm. I don't want you being here in this horrible weather. Would you like that?" Lucy nervously nodded her head. She stood up and walked slowly, wanting Yutaka to follow her. He acknowledged this and stood up to follow her. Lucy picked her weapon up and Yutaka noted it had dried blood on each of its three sharp blades.

Lucy continued to walk ahead of Yutaka as the rain pelted them and lightning cracked the sky continuously.

Lucy suddenly stopped when she came to a tree with a large incision in its trunk. Inside Yutaka could see her pillow and cover which were covered in soil and an assortment of Lucy's smaller belongings.

Lucy grabbed her bag. It was tattered and worn and Yutaka noticed the fading logo of All That Remains.

"You are aren't you?" He sort of asked referencing her missing status. Lucy looked at him sternly and it sent a shiver down Yutaka's spine.

Lucy packed her belongings into her bag and hoisted it over her shoulder. Then she waited by the entrance to the tree as if to ask Yutaka to lead the way. Yutaka agreed and took the lead. Soon though Lucy walked alongside him, possibly through sudden fear or because of finding somebody she may be able to trust.

They carried on through the Black Woods until Yutaka noticed a somehow dry patch of soil among dense vegetation despite the fact that rain still buffeted them and everything else in the woodland.

"We'll set up my tent here." Yutaka declared.

Lucy watched as Yutaka plucked the deflated tent from his bag.

He began to set it up and hammered the hooks deep into the earth. Lucy seemed interested as she looked at him setting the tent up from behind her hair that hung over her face. She threw her bag down on the ground and walked over to the tent. She grabbed Yutaka's bag and used her hands to rummage through it. Yutaka watched her do this as Lucy finally found what she was looking for, a tent hook.

Lucy walked over to the tent and drove the hook deep into the soil near to another hook Yutaka had hammered in earlier.

Eventually the tent was set up.

"You first." Yutaka said softly. Lucy crawled into the tent clutching her bag with Yutaka following her inside clutching his own.

Yutaka looked at Lucy's weapon again and picked it up.

"This weapon, what is it?" He asked with interest.

"Glaive." Lucy replied with a faint whisper as she set her bed out.

Yutaka noticed the centerpiece of the Glaive was completed by an upside down pentagram although he kept his thoughts to himself for now.

He gave it back to her as she politely took it from him.

Yutaka set out his sleeping bag and shortly after Lucy crawled over to it and rested her head against the pillow and lay inside it, presumably to test how comfortable it is compared to her own.

"It is comfortable?" Yutaka asked as Lucy nodded her head in approval.

Soon afterwards Lucy came out from Yutaka's sleeping bag and it became stained in mushy soil from Lucy's feet. She looked at Yutaka.

"Don't worry." He said reassuringly.

"I'm going to get some wood for a campfire, you stay here." Yutaka said calmly. Lucy nodded as Yutaka exited the tent.

Lucy sat atop Yutaka's sleeping bag and grabbed Yutaka's bag again. She looked inside the bag with her dark, stringy hair still dangling over her face.

Lucy rummaged through his bag out of curiosity and her eyes widened as she noticed the Dragon Sword. She plucked it out of Yutaka's bag and unsheathed it.

She brushed her hair away from her face with her free hand and looked at the sword continually with wide eyes. Her eyes were soon drawn to the carving of the Golden Dragon embedded on the tip of the handle near to the blade.

Lucy suddenly heard rustling outside. She poked her head outside the tent to investigate and noticed Yutaka setting up wood for a campfire.

Lucy grabbed the sword and went up to Yutaka with her hair hung over her face again.

"Wow." She exclaimed in a faint whisper to Yutaka as she held out Yutaka's sword in front of her with both hands. Yutaka smiled at her warmly as he finished setting up the wood.

He turned to get the oil and lighter he had to light the fire but by the time he came back it was already on fire.

"Did you do this?" He asked. Lucy nodded.

"How?" He asked again. Lucy ignored him.

Yutaka looked at her puzzled. He did not get how Lucy made a campfire without the necessary components.

"Is sushi OK?" He asked her. Lucy nodded.

After Yutaka cooked the ingredients and poured the meal in two small bowls he fished out chopsticks for himself and a plastic fork for Lucy from his bag.

He handed it and one of the bowls to her and she politely took them from him.

"I always bring a fork just in case." Yutaka said quietly. He looked at Lucy.

"Are you going to move your hair out of the way?" He asked as he noticed Lucy's dark hair was still hanging over her face. Lucy ignored him and picked out a bit of sushi with her fork, poking the fork through her hair en route to her mouth. As she chewed on her food she pulled the fork away and her hair became attached to it and she began to pull it away harder, getting more frustrated as she did so.

Eventually she pulled her hair off of the fork and she brushed her hair from her face.

"I told you." Yutaka said firmly. Lucy looked harshly at him.

It seemed she had forgotten how to eat properly with cutlery.

Lucy had no more problems however and she finished her food fairly quickly.

They sat there on the dry soil around the campfire for a while, particularly now the sky was clear.

"So have you been here a while?" Yutaka asked. Lucy nodded.

"About three years?" He asked her again. Lucy ignored him and looked at him harshly in the process.

Yutaka cursed himself for persistently asking Lucy that question knowing that she will ignore him and give him dirty looks.

"You want to go inside now?" He asked Lucy. She nodded.

They re-enter Yutaka's tent and Lucy lies in her bed. Yutaka meanwhile was polishing his Windmill Shuriken.

Lucy picked up her Glaive and held it close to Yutaka. Yutaka knew instantly what she wanted and kindly took it from her while smiling warmly. Lucy managed a half smile back in reply. Yutaka thought to himself that he was getting through to her emotionally. He smiled to himself about it as he polished Lucy's Glaive, washing off the dried blood and making it shine.

Yutaka showed it to Lucy and the light reflection made her cower in the corner of the tent with her hands in front of her face.

"Sorry." Yutaka said politely and apologetically. Lucy put her hands down and looked at her Glaive again. Yutaka held it in front of her. Lucy gave Yutaka a warm smile as if to say thank you and politely took it from him.

Yutaka laid himself in the sleeping bag. Likewise Lucy lay in her bed and rested her head gently against her pillow with her long black hair hung over her face again.

Yutaka looked over at Lucy and wondered if he would be able to build a bond between them.

"Are you from around here?" He asked. Lucy nodded as she pointed in one direction.

"Oh you mean Kuromokuzai. I'm from there too." He said trying to bond with her.

What he did not know was that Lucy had fallen asleep.

"Lucy?" He called over to her. No answer.

"Damn!" He cursed.

He stayed awake a while thinking. He was glad to have located Lucy and taken her under his wing.

He could tell though that she had been in the woodlands for a while as he played back the scene where he saw Lucy was staying in his mind. He also noted her tattered dress, poor hygiene, greasy hair and her pale skin.

He felt sorry for her and could not imagine what he thinks she is going through.

He finally closed his eyes comforted with the fact that Lucy lay across the tent from him. From here, he headed for dreamland.


	5. Missing Again

Missing Again:

**Missing Again:**

"LUCY!!" Yutaka yelled frantically with panicked breath.

He awakened a few minutes earlier to find Lucy had gone with no evidence to suggest she was ever there.

"I hope she's OK." He said to himself as he quickly packed his tent and sleeping bag away.

He hoisted the bag to his shoulder and ran. A child sized figure with long dark hair walked between the trees in the distance. Yutaka knew immediately who it was.

He ran faster, determined to get to her.

Suddenly a Katana popped out from behind a tree and Yutaka quickly unsheathed the Dragon Sword to block it from taking him out.

"What the fuck do you want now?" Yutaka asked angrily as a Black Mamba clan minion appeared in front of him.

"To know where you are heading, ninja." Came his reply. The enemy minion swung his Katana at Yutaka as Yutaka held his own sword up in self defence to block.

"You were foolish, ninja." Taunted the minion.

"Foolish as to what may I ask?" Yutaka replied with a question.

"Foolish not to see me coming." The minion replied as the two played out a typical sword match, both matching each other man for man.

In the end, Yutaka pulled out on top as he thrust his sword upwards and slicing off his right arm causing him to fall to his knees as the minion watched his own blood spray onto the soil below.

The minion began to beg for mercy as Yutaka raised his sword ready for another blow.

"You don't want to do this." He pleaded with panicked breath as he tried to buy himself time.

"Yes I do." Yutaka replied harshly as he thrust his sword downwards, cutting cleanly through his enemy's remaining arm causing him to scream in pain as blood pooled on the soil underneath him. The minion drew his last breath before he fell into the lake of crimson that had formed beneath him.

Unfortunately for Yutaka more were waiting for him as they lurked in the shadows of the nearby trees, some armed with bow and arrows.

"Shit." He exclaimed.

The enemy minions charged towards him complete with a battle cry.

Yutaka stood his ground and readied his sword. When the enemies reached him, he thrust his sword into one of them as it punctured the enemy's heart. Yutaka blocked a swipe of a sword from another before appearing quickly behind his enemy and slashing his back with the Dragon Sword and then slicing cleanly through the minion's legs as blood pooled on the floor.

Yutaka looked at the shear number of enemies in front of him wondering how he was going to defeat them all alone. He grabbed his Windmill Shuriken, a four bladed weapon in the form of the windmill hence the name.

Yutaka threw it as hard as he could and watched as it cut through the band of enemies that stood before him. Yutaka smiled as he saw blood gushing from a number of them.

A few were still left however as he caught his Shuriken. Yutaka ran forward at the remaining enemies as one tried to take off his head with a well timed stroke of the sword. Yutaka ducked just in time and with a precise slice of his own cut through his enemy's torso. The minion stood there in shock and clasped his gloved hands over the wound as the top half of his body slid away from the lower half and blood splashed across the nearby trees and soil.

There were three enemy minions left to tackle. Yutaka burst forward and immediately sliced off one minion's sword wielding hand and lodged his Windmill Shuriken in the top of his head.

Two left. One surged forward and cut Yutaka's arm. Yutaka ignored the pain for now and with a clean stroke of the sword cut cleanly through his enemy's neck and taking the head off as blood erupted from the stump like a Hawaiian volcano and the severed head rolled into the nearby shrubs.

Only one remained. Yutaka charged for him and with a simple forward thrust of the Dragon Sword he stabbed right through his enemy's eye socket, penetrating through the brain and out the back of his head. His enemy's eye was lodged on the end of the Dragon Sword and fell to the floor when Yutaka pulled his sword free of the minion's head.

Yutaka looked at his sword drenched with the dripping blood of his fallen enemies.

He grabbed a bandage from his bag and wrapped it tight around his bleeding arm before cleaning his sword with a cloth. He looked up and noticed a stream of blood was snaking through the woodland at a peculiar angle. Yutaka began to follow it in case it may lead somewhere.

Meanwhile Nick Colvin sat in his lounge on his favourite chair doing a crossword while puffing smoke from a cigarette. His short dark hair was as tidy as ever as was the business suit he was wearing.

Suddenly the door bell rang and Nick jolted and coughed uncontrollably from almost choking on his cigarette. It rang again.

"Give me a minute alright!" He exclaimed through his coughing fit. Not a moment too soon he went over to his front door and opened it.

There stood on his doorstep was a little girl with long black hair that hung over her face. She wore a tattered looking dark blue dress.

"Lucy is that you?" He asked in shock almost as if he knew the answer already. She came forward slightly and produced a three bladed projectile weapon from behind her back, the Glaive.

Nick backed off slightly.

"What are you doing? I am your father!" He said panicking.

"An abusive one." Came Lucy's faint whisper.

"You must die." She continued still with the faint whisper.

Nick was backed into a corner as Lucy continued advancing towards him. He panicked still as sweat dropped from him, his eyes were wide open and his breathing was loud and heavy.

"Please." He pleaded. Lucy brushed her hair away from her face with her hand. Her face was crossed with a dark smile and her demon like red eyes stared coldly at him.

"What have you become?" Nick asked through his fear as he gulped.

"A vengeance seeker." Lucy replied with another quiet yet clear whisper.

With that Lucy proceeded to throw her Glaive in the path of Nick who screamed in terror knowing that this was the end of the road. For him it was, as the Glaive sliced through his neck, decapitating him. Blood erupted out of the stump as his body slumped against the wall in a heap, the head landing on his torso as blood gruesomely decorated the wall behind the body and pooled on the floor.

Lucy's face was now crossed with an even darker smile. She giggled innocently and caught her Glaive.

At that moment Yutaka was continuing to follow the blood trail that had snaked through the woods.

It is likely the trail was fueled by all of his fallen enemies' blood from the battle he had earlier.

"Where does this lead to?" He murmured to himself quietly.

Now reporters from a wide range of news channels and newspapers were gathering. One reported:

"We are outside the house belonging to Nick Colvin, a 31 year old businessman who was found gruesomely murdered inside his home. His decapitated body was found hanging by rope from the ceiling of his living room and his head was located right beneath his dangling body. Blood was all over the floor and there was even a message written in large letters with Nick's blood on the wall reading: My."

At that moment a little girl with long black hair and wearing a dark blue dress walked up to the reporter with her hair hung over her face.

"Oh hello there. What do you make of what is happening?" The reporter asked as she leaned down to the little girl's height and put the speaking tip of the microphone to her mouth. The little girl replied with a softly spoken whisper:

"I loved my daddy." The girl then walked away with the reporter held back from asking more questions against the girl's will.

At this time Yutaka Keiji still followed the blood trail in the Black Woods.

"I'm going nowhere fast." He remarked.

Margaret and John Carrington were sitting quietly in their lounge. The grandparents to many are wealthy retirees and lived in a large limestone mansion on one corner of Kuromokuzai village.

"You want me to get you a drink?" John asked as he brushed his neatly combed over white hair with his hand. Margaret nodded politely and looked at her reflection on the switched off TV as she stroked her short white hair in hope to make it neater.

Suddenly loud banging noises and footsteps could be heard from the floor above.

They jolted and Margaret rose to her feet as best she could, hoping her leg would not give way. John walked to the stairs.

"I think the drinks can wait." John said quietly.

"Yes I think that would be best." Margaret replied.

They slowly made their way up the stairs. It was dark on the next floor with barely any light cast anywhere.

"Who is here?" John asked in hope of an answer as he shone the light of his torch around the darkened second floor.

They went into a bedroom and looked hard around it.

At that moment they heard the stairs creaking.

They quickly made their way to the stairs and made their way down as fast as they could. When they got to the kitchen, their hearts almost stopped. That was because a little girl sat at the table on a chair. Her long black hair hung over her face and she wore a dark blue dress.

"Lucy?" Margaret called out with a puzzled look. Lucy brushed her hair away from her face with her hand.

"What's happened to you?" John asked. Lucy ignored him and flicked open a silver bladed projectile weapon that had dried blood on it.

John and Margaret heard the threatening sound the Glaive had provided.

A single fixture of rope hung precariously from the kitchen ceiling. John began to climb it in a panic. Lucy was slowly arising from the chair at the table. She walked out of the room and up the stairs.

"John hurry up she is coming." Margaret yelled to her husband.

"I'm trying." John called back.

When he managed to get his head above the floor of the next level up in the mansion, he saw Lucy standing there looking at him even though it was dark in the room.

"Please leave us alone." John pleaded. "Why?" Came a faint whispered question from Lucy.

Margaret looked up but could not see much even through her glasses. Suddenly she heard a cutting sound and the sound of blades.

"John are you OK?" Margaret asked with a worried tone.

She felt blood dripping onto her and her clothing before John's headless body fell back down into the kitchen with blood spraying from the stump. Margaret screamed his name in terror and sadness as she began to cry.

Lucy came back down to the kitchen and her Glaive was covered in John's dripping blood. John's severed head fell into the kitchen completing Margaret's misery.

"What are you doing? Why are you here?" Margaret asked panicking.

"Vengeance." Lucy replied with a quiet whisper.

"What do you mean?" Margaret asked.

"For your…fucking…abuse." Lucy replied through a harsher sounding whisper.

Lucy threw her Glaive again and Margaret's body fell lifelessly minus its head as blood gushed out. Lucy smiled a dark smile.

Half an hour later Yutaka reached the end of the blood trail and he could see John and Margaret's mansion and Lucy was heading his way in the distance.

Lucy found out Yutaka was there and darted towards him instantly. Yutaka did likewise saving Lucy the job of having to run so far up the hill.

When they reached each other Yutaka gave her a big hug. This felt alien to Lucy and she began to cry. Yutaka knew why she became upset all of a sudden as her tears fell gently onto his arms.

"Look at me." Yutaka said calmly. Lucy obeyed and looked up at him. Yutaka gave her the warmest of smiles and soon afterward Lucy gave him the warmest smile she could manage back in reply.

"I told you I'm here to help you, Lucy." He said reassuringly.

"I love you." Lucy replied with a quiet whisper as her tears still streamed down her pale face, making her cheeks shine like moonlight contrasting completely with the darkened black of her hair.

Yutaka was stunned by Lucy's sudden show of affection for him but smiled as he tightened his hug and returned with:

"I love you too." This made Lucy cry more but these were happy tears for the first time in her life.

"Let's go back to the Headquarters." Yutaka declared. Lucy nodded in approval as they set off in the Golden Dragon Headquarters' direction side by side.


	6. Turning Point

Turning Point:

**Turning Point:**

"John and Margaret Carrington were found brutally murdered. Their bodies were sat at the dinner table in the kitchen and their decapitated heads were displayed on dinner plates. Another two messages were also present, again written in blood. This time they were found on the dinner plates and read: OWN BLOOD…" blared the news reporter on the main television inside the Golden Dragon Headquarters.

"Wow someone around here is demented." Said Takahashi, a fellow ninja who seemingly appoints himself as Yutaka's rival within the Golden Dragon clan.

"What is with that creepy girl Yutaka brought back here with him? Has Yutaka started a freak show or something?" He asked sarcastically with a chuckle. No one else laughed.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Yutaka asked angrily.

"Didn't I make myself clear, Keiji? That girl is a freak and needs to be left alone. She smells like trouble." Takahashi replied seriously this time.

"No, dipshit she was all alone with nobody to look after her and she needs help. I'm willing to give her that help and that reminds me. You have a sick mind, Takahashi. Making assumptions about somebody you've never even seen before, especially given that Lucy is just a child." Yutaka explained with rage in his eyes.

"Well keep her away from me and I will kill you and her if she fucks with me." Takahashi responded with a harsh threat.

While they argued, Lucy sat at Yutaka's desk drawing with written descriptions. She looked up momentarily at the rivals arguing and heard she was the subject of their argument.

She rose slowly from the desk in Yutaka's office and crept behind a plant pot in the foyer near to where the bitter argument was taking place.

When she heard Takahashi insulting her she looked right at Takahashi and telekinetically picked him up off the floor. From there she threw him hard against the nearby wall, knocking the wind out of him as Takahashi slumped weakly against the wall.

"Lucy?" Yutaka said like a question as he was puzzled. Lucy came out from behind the plant pot and walked angrily over to the weakened Takahashi. She knelt down in front of him with her hair hung over her face. Then she flicked open her Glaive and held it to Takahashi's throat, lightly choking him to get him to listen.

"Do you wanna die?" She whispered threateningly at Takahashi. He froze in sudden fear.

Lucy walked back towards Yutaka staring at Takahashi all the while. The foyer broke into applauds, presumably for Lucy's act.

"Little bitch!" Takahashi exclaimed. Lucy stuck her middle finger up at him as she and Yutaka headed back to Yutaka's office.

"Don't let him get to you." Yutaka said trying to discourage her from Takahashi's comments building a rage inside her head. Lucy sat there on Yutaka's desk looking at Yutaka as she nodded her head in understanding for what Yutaka said.

Lucy went back to drawing with more written descriptions. Yutaka looked over her shoulder to see what she was doing. Lucy hid them from him and Yutaka instantly got the message that she didn't want him to see it.

"Do you want something to eat?" Yutaka asked her. Lucy nodded. Yutaka went back to the foyer and asked the chef to cook something up for Lucy.

Lucy meanwhile had hidden her drawing in one of the draws of Yutaka's desk so Yutaka wouldn't be able to see it.

Soon enough her food was ready and after Yutaka called her she sat at the table in the foyer to eat. Yutaka sat across from her.

After Lucy moved her hair away from her face she took her first bite out of her pizza.

"Is it OK?" Yutaka asked. Lucy nodded her head.

"It must be your first proper meal for a while, huh?" Yutaka asked as if he knew the answer already. Lucy nodded her head again.

After a little while she had finished it off and went back to Yutaka's office again. Yutaka looked at her as she sat at his desk again from his position in the foyer.

He looked around the foyer momentarily realizing how quiet everything had become among the fellow ninjas.

Suddenly Yutaka heard Lucy coughing heavily and saw she had collapsed onto her hands and knees. He rushed to her side as she began to vomit onto the floor. Yutaka immediately noticed that there was blood in Lucy's vomit.

"Solvent." Yutaka determined muttering to himself.

He put his arm around Lucy giving her support while she staggered to the bathroom with him.

"Not so nice now is it, you little bitch!" Takahashi yelled in Lucy's direction gleefully. This made something in Lucy's head click with rage as she continued throwing up in the toilet.

"There is something so fucking wrong with this place today!" Yutaka shouted to himself as he pounded the bathroom wall repeatedly with his fist.

Lucy stood up, angry and in rage with Takahashi. She flicked open her Glaive again and stormed out of the bathroom with vomit still dripping from her mouth.

She walked fast and in an angry motion towards Takahashi who was still grinning to himself. She picked him up again with her telekinesis and threw Takahashi into the wall much harder than the first time. He was almost knocked out from the blow. Lucy strode towards his slumped body quickly, not giving him a chance for a breather while looking like a maniac.

She proceeded to slash open his right arm, severing a fair amount of arterial tissue with her Glaive. Lucy looked deep into Takahashi's eyes with anger and pure malice as her Glaive remained in the wound on his arm as blood squirted from it from time to time.

Yutaka went up to the chef for the Headquarters, Hajime.

"What are you playing at?" He asked demandingly.

"He paid me money. He was demanding I do it." Hajime replied in a panic.

"You have breached the boundaries of honour and for that and the fact that you harmed a young child you must pay." Yutaka explained forcefully.

"No you don't understand. I need the money for my family." Hajime replied as he cowered in a corner of the kitchen.

"Silence!" Yutaka ordered as he unsheathed his Dragon Sword. Hajime pleaded repeatedly but it did no good as Yutaka's sword sliced through his neck in one clean swipe.

Hajime's head bounced along the floor as blood erupted from the stump on the body.

"Maybe you should have thought of the consequences before you took action." Yutaka said firmly.

Yutaka went over to Lucy who sat on top of the foyer table feeling a little groggy. An unconscious Takahashi was slumped against a wall not far from them with a long, deep slit embedded on his blood covered right arm as blood was dripping into a pool of crimson on the otherwise clean blue carpet.

"Are you OK?" Yutaka asked Lucy before she nodded quickly.

"Where is Hajime?" Itachi asked Yutaka. He looked angry.

"Dead!" Yutaka replied bluntly.

"What?" Itachi asked angrily as he went into the kitchen and saw Hajime's headless body sat in a large pool of deep crimson.

"What the hell did you do?" Itachi asked demandingly.

"I cut his head off. He put solvent in Lucy's pizza and it mad her ill. Takahashi paid him." Yutaka explained.

"You have crossed the line between honour and vengeance, Yutaka." Itachi said in anger.

"Father, he committed a sin." Yutaka said trying to explain his reasoning.

"No, you did and for that you are no longer part of this clan. Get out of here!" Itachi ordered.

"Fine. However you are wrong and from this point on I do not consider you my father. Lucy's let's go." Yutaka said in disgust as he picked up his bag, kicked Takahashi's unconscious body and headed to the exit. Lucy, now with her own bag slung on her shoulder, stared coldly at Itachi before she to headed for the Headquarters' exit.

"Bastards!" Itachi exclaimed as he looked at Takahashi.


	7. Murder She Wrote

Murder She Wrote:

**Murder She Wrote:**

Walking down the road away from the Golden Dragon Headquarters, Yutaka Keiji looked at the dark night sky riddled with large thunderclouds that loomed overhead. Rain descended from these clouds in heavy doses as the sound of raindrops were magnified tenfold by the roofs on the Kuromokuzai village houses.

"Are you OK, Lucy?" Yutaka asked. There was no answer. Yutaka looked to his side to see that Lucy wasn't there.

"Lucy?" Yutaka said like a question as he looked around. She was nowhere to be seen. He frantically walked into the dark village and looked around as he was breathing heavily. All of the lampposts were dead apart from a few in the distance. However they were quickly dealt with seemingly when they inexplicably burst and left the village streets in pure darkness.

Yutaka continued looking around as he frantically walked with heavy steps down the village street. The village was seemingly deserted as not a single person besides Yutaka was walking along any village street and all the lights in every house were turned off.

"Lucy!" Yutaka called out through his hands desperately as he was getting worried about her and his mind was racing through things he did not want to know about.

Rain continued to lash Kuromokuzai with all its might and lightning ripped across the sky almost one after the other. Yutaka continued to look around the village with the thoughts of what his father Itachi had said earlier racing through his mind. Yutaka is determined to prove him wrong and is adamant that he no longer needs Itachi in his life.

"Lucy where are you?!" He yelled desperately as he continued searching for her in the dark and lonely village. Yutaka felt just as lonely which only added to his worries.

Just then a very bright flash of lightning illuminated the area and projected on the front of a house nearby there was a shadow accompanied with a soft, almost playful giggle of a young child before the lightning and the shadow quickly disappeared, now once again all was quiet.

Yutaka started to panic. Not only did that startle him and frighten him at the same time, he was getting more worried that something might happen to Lucy.

She was the only thing that mattered to him anymore. He continued wandering the streets endlessly with the rain pelting him hard, the village awash with black except for when the sky was torn open by lightning.

He could now hear bells ringing in the village church's spire and it unnerved him somewhat.

Then he could hear the sound of a baby crying nearby as the bells continued to chime in the background. The sounds combined with the terrifying darkness that enveloped the Kuromokuzai village made the hairs on the back of Yutaka's neck stand on end as the cold thrill of fear was sinking in.

Yutaka nervously trudged forward to where the sound of a baby crying was emanating from.

When he got there he saw a doll staring right back at him. Then he heard the playful almost carefree voice of a little girl in his mind. It said:

"Her name is Alissa. Please take good care of her." Then it broke off with almost evil child laughter as it faded away into a memory.

Yutaka with the doll in hand spun round and breathed heavily in pure terror as he saw three decapitated bodies lying in the street.

"They've had their special farewells." Chimed the playful young girl's voice as it was succeeded by softer giggling.

Another bright flash of lightning temporarily blinded Yutaka and when his vision came back to him the bodies were gone.

Yutaka looked at the doll as he put it in his bag just in case. The church bells continued to sound out in the background, Yutaka was terrified.

He continued to look around Kuromokuzai regardless. He was now extremely worried about Lucy and wished she was still with him. It affected Yutaka's emotions somewhat as he was becoming even a little upset and felt really cold. He felt he had a bond with her.

Then he heard playful giggling nearby and ran in its direction. He stopped a moment and this was a mistake as he was hit hard from behind in the back of the head. He struggled to look up and as he did, a little girl stood in front of him. She knelt down and lowered her head to his own and through a softly spoken whisper said:

"This is for your own protection." Yutaka couldn't speak before everything went blank.

Kay Colvin sat in her darkened lounge watching television while smoking a cigarette. She looked around the darkened lounge for the remote, although she did not get up from the chair.

A very bright flash of lightning illuminated the room momentarily and Kay spotted a shadow on the wall accompanied with a playful young child's giggle. The room went dark again and Kay froze with fear in her chair although she had found the remote.

Kay turned off her TV. Another bright flash of lightning lit up the room for a brief couple of seconds and Kay realized she was not alone. As she looked at her television, she could see a young girl with long black hair that hung over her face standing directly behind the chair Kay was sitting in. The lightning faded away plunging the room into darkness once more.

Kay could not see a thing in the creeping darkness although she could now feel hair on her exposed shoulders as she wore a black vest and jeans. Kay felt like screaming but her fear choked it all back and apart from heavy, panicked breaths she remained almost completely silent.

By now she could feel the hair crawling down her arms but could not see a thing through the seemingly choking darkness.

A threatening clicking sound could be heard and Kay was shaking with fear and panic. She could suddenly feel sharp metal on her stomach.

Then a sudden sharp pain enveloped her entire body as the blade was driven across her stomach. Kay could hear her own blood spurting from the wound but could not see it through the inky black darkness. She finally screamed and was pushed to the floor lying on her stomach.

"This is what you get for abusing me." Came a softly spoken but stern little girl's voice.

"Lucy!" Kay exclaimed as she struggled and panicked while a pool of blood was forming beneath her from the wound.

Kay could hear phone buttons being pressed and soon after a dialing tone could be heard.

"I want you to tell my Uncle and your brother Lee that you're dying." Lucy said menacingly before she giggled maniacally while holding the phone to Kay's ear.

"Speak!" Lucy demanded.

"I'm……dying." Kay uttered weakly as a confused Lee soon replied with:

"Kay? What's going on? Are you being serious? I'm coming over right now." Lucy's face now wore a dark smile. This was exactly as she planned.

She looked back at the deeply wounded Kay even through the bleak unforgiving darkness. Then she stabbed her Glaive through Kay's neck, rendering Kay more or less dead. Then she let her Glaive snap shut, neatly removing Kay's head from the shoulders. Lucy smiled again as blood pooled on the ground right under Lucy's feet.

At that moment Lee barged his way through the front door. "Kay!" He yelled worried.

"Where the fuck are the light switches?" He asked himself as he complained about the daunting darkness.

"You don't want to be doing that." Lucy taunted intimidating Lee and succeeded this with soft, playful giggles.

"Who's there?" Lee asked as he scanned the room as best he could. There was complete silence.

"If you don't say anything I'm gonna make you fucking pay!" He yelled pathetically. He heard footsteps.

"Is that so?" Lucy taunted with a menacing little girl's voice.

Lee turned around and at this moment a bright flash of lightning lit up the room for a moment or two. Lee saw Lucy staring coldly at him with a dark smile across her pale face. The room went black again after the flash of lightning disappeared.

"Lucy, oh my god! How did you…?" Lee gasped before Lucy interrupted:

"I would not tell you that. Because you abused me." She said harshly.

Lee heard two footsteps. Another flash of lightning illuminated the room. Lee saw Lucy was closer to him than before as she stood in front of him still staring coldly at him with her dark demonic smile still a feature on her face. Lee noticed blood on the floor next to Lucy and initially thought it was her own until he noticed she was clutching Glaive that was caked in dripping blood.

The lightning faded plunging the room into darkness once again and Lee was intimidated.

"What the fuck did you do to Kay?" Lee asked demandingly trying to see Lucy in the darkness but ultimately failing.

"See for yourself." Lucy taunted menacingly.

Lucy flipped the light switch before the light flickered on. She giggled as Lee rushed over to where a large pool of deep crimson lay on the floor. There, he had to hold his mouth refraining him from throwing up.

He saw Kay's headless body spread eagled across the floor in a heap, the head sitting next to it.

"You are a twisted little bitch, Lucy!" Lee yelled in disgust as his eyes welled up from the loss of his sister.

"As were you the last time you saw me. Over three years ago." Lucy retorted as she smiled darkly.

"I never killed you though did I?" Lee pointed out still upset at Kay's untimely demise.

"No, but you tortured me." Lucy answered right back. Lee nodded his head as he accepted what Lucy had said.

Lucy flipped the light switch again and Kay's lounge was plunged into darkness once more. Lee started panicking as he could not see. Unbeknownst to him Lucy was standing right behind him with her blood soaked Glaive in hand ready for another kill.

She then buried the Glaive right through Lee's back and it poked right through his stomach.

"Does that hurt?" Lucy taunted as she giggled maniacally.

Lee yelled with pain as blood squirted like a water pistol from both ends of his wound.

"Do you now know what it felt like for me when you made me suffer?" She asked with malice in her voice. Lee nodded.

Lucy twisted the Glaive around in his wound, opening it up more and making the pain worse.

"Now who's whimpering?!" Lucy uttered with sadistic delight as it drew another dark smile across her pale face.

She ripped her Glaive out of his wound harshly before she got ready to throw it at him.

"Goodnight, Lee. Sweet dreams." She said delivering a final taunt and before Lee knew it the Glaive had sliced right through his neck, causing his head to slide off onto the floor.

Lucy looked at her Glaive as it dripped blood onto the now crimson covered laminated floor. Then she gave a smile of satisfaction realizing that only one of her targets remained.

Yutaka finally awakened. He was tied by handcuffs on his wrists an legs to a chair in a small, grimy and dimly lit room, a single bare light bulb hung precariously from the ceiling. Paint was flaking off walls and dirty water was dripping from the ceiling into puddles on the mucky floor. There was a distinct smell of damp surfaces and urine.

There was graffiti on the walls and pieces of small paper scattered along the grimy floor with some soaked deep into the murky puddles. A wire stretched along one wall, finishing up behind an old battered television lurking deep within the shadow that spanned the entire edge of the unappealing room.

The television turned on as if it had a life of its own and through its somewhat static and flickering screen a news report could be seen. It temporarily affected Yutaka's vision as it adjusted to the sudden light protruding from the television.

"Kay and Lee Colvin were found dead in the living room of Kay's house. They were decapitated and their bodies were found sitting on the sofa with their heads on the sofa's arms.

The television was also turned on, though on a static screen to enhance what was written in blood on the screen as it was the only source of light in the otherwise dark room.

The writing on the screen read: 'will suffer'. There is definitely one perpetrator of all the murders today and all of the inscribed writing is threatening to say the least: 'My own blood will suffer'." Blared the news reporter before the television turned off seemingly automatically.

Yutaka looked puzzled while attempting to shake off the handcuffs binding him to the chair.

"Shocking isn't it?" Asked a little girl's voice. Yutaka looked around the dimly lit and grim room.

A little girl with long black hair and wearing a tattered dark blue dress emerged from the shadows from beside the television and sat down on the floor in front of Yutaka.

"Lucy! What are you doing?" He asked a little worried. Lucy had her long hair hung over her face and she looked down at the floor while drawing circles on the dusty floor with her finger. She ignored Yutaka and what he had asked.

"Lucy please talk to me." Yutaka pleaded gently. Lucy's head began to rise and her eyes met Yutaka's. She stopped drawing circles with her finger.

"Sometimes I need you to understand what I want." Lucy began with her voice sounding as innocent as possible.

"I do." Yutaka replied getting more concerned.

"Not all of it." Lucy said with her voice a little harsher this time.

"Well what else do you want me to understand?" Yutaka asked Lucy, his face wearing a worried expression.

Lucy used her mind to shut off the only light source in the room, the light bulb. The room was now pitch black.

Yutaka suddenly noticed he wasn't in that room anymore and that he was walking freely in a small but picturesque park. The only people that were around him was a young girl that wore a dark blue dress and had black hair that went down to her shoulders, a slightly older girl with blonde shoulder length hair and wore a white glittery shirt and jeans, a young boy of about two years of age and had short blonde hair and wore a dark red shirt and tracksuit trousers and who Yutaka assumed to be their mother, wearing a green shirt and tracksuit trousers. All seemed well.

The trees and leaves were swaying in the breeze, the grass was green and the birds were singing. Everything was quiet and peaceful.

That is what made Yutaka feel at ease, but out of nowhere two young boys appeared with a football.

"Hey it's that weird girl!" One called out as they laughed and one kicked the ball at the girl with the blue dress.

"Lucy." Yutaka muttered to himself confirming his suspicions.

Lucy bent backwards allowing the ball to narrowly miss her head. Unfortunately she also slipped and her left leg fell onto a metal pole and pierced all the way through thus impaling Lucy's leg. She let out a yell of pain and began to cry loudly. Blood spurted profusely out of the wound and coated the nearby grass in a mass of crimson and red.

Yutaka was shocked and got very upset immediately. Unlike most mothers, Lucy's did not comfort her. No, instead she shouted for Lucy to hurry up and to stop crying like a baby. Lucy's brother and sister came over to comfort her. Immediately though:

"Mia, Louis, get here now! She'll be fine just leave her to sort it out or you will both get big punishments." Lucy's mother shouted angrily. They apologised to Lucy and headed to their mother.

Yutaka began to cry and knew that nothing had affected him so badly before.

"Sick bitch." He said quietly to himself.

Lucy pulled the metal pole from her wound as she stood up, splattering blood onto her shoes and on the already blood soaked grass.

Yutaka looked away with tears in his eyes. This was all too much to take. The boys that attempted to hurt Lucy were by now gone and laughing to themselves.

Lucy limped slowly towards the exit of the park, crying heavily and with blood constantly spilling out of her wound.

Yutaka wanted to help but knew he couldn't. Tears cascaded down his cheeks. This was too much.

"That was when I was six." Said an echoed girl's voice.

"Close your eyes." It instructed. Yutaka obeyed and shut his eyes. When he opened them again he was in a dank cellar very similar to the room he was in before. He saw a little girl chained to a chair. Yutaka knew this was Lucy.

"This was when I was four." Said the voice again. Yutaka noted her pyjamas, white and covered in glittering stars. There were also a few spots of blood on the shirt and the floor. Lucy was unconscious and had blood dribbling slowly from her mouth.

"Devil child." Called out a voice. A young male was descending the stairs into the dirty cellar.

Lucy was now awake and panicking.

"Uncle no." She pleaded. He pulled her hair, yanking Lucy's head back.

"Devil child." He said once again. Yutaka had heard his voice before but could not remember how.

The man pulled out a knife and plunged it into Lucy's left arm making her scream and cry. He twisted it, opening the wound further and maximising the pain. Blood fell like a very small waterfall making a large crimson pool on the floor.

The man ripped the knife from the wound and got ready to do it again when Lucy through telekinetic force took the knife from his hands and threw it out of sight.

"Fuck you!" The man yelled before Lucy fell unconscious.

A woman came in and with her own knife stabbed Lucy's other arm for more sickening bloodshed.

The scenery suddenly changed to that of a lounge. Lucy was sitting unconscious on a chair in front of a television with static being displayed on the screen.

Yutaka cried even more. He could not bear to see Lucy or any young child being treated in this vile manner.

"Fucking animals." He said in an increasingly angry voice, a rage building inside him. He saw the names Lee and Kay etched onto a photo.

"Close your eyes." The little girl's echoed voice instructed again. Yutaka listened and shut his eyes, tears pouring from within.

When he opened them again he was in a kitchen, a luxury one with a large table. An elderly woman was cooking and had an angry expression on her face. She sprinkled a substance onto one of the three plates.

"I was five at this time." Said the girl's echoed voice again.

Loud metal music was blasting from the floor above.

"All That Remains." Yutaka determined.

"Turn that off, Lucy." Ordered an elderly man.

"No!" Was the reply from the floor above.

The man climbed a fixture of rope that hung precariously from the kitchen ceiling and into the darkened room above.

The music stopped.

"Why can't you be like every other five year old?" Boomed the man's voice. Then gentle pop music was heard.

"Here! This is what you should listen to, enjoy!" Said the man with a dark smile.

This was torture to Lucy's ears. She couldn't bear it. The man left the room down the rope.

"John get Lucy down. It's dinner time." Declared the elderly woman.

"Of course, Margaret." John replied. They both had dark smiles on their faces.

After John dragged Lucy to the table, they all tucked into their meals.

They soon polished it off. Lucy however looked queasy. She wobbled for a few moments before she vomited onto the dinner plate her meal was on. Blood was visible in her vomit.

Lucy fell unconscious and her head drooped, banging against the table hard. Yutaka heard a crack and winced when he saw a pool of blood forming on the table.

John and Margaret laughed; they knew Lucy had broken her nose.

"Oh my god." Yutaka uttered and began crying again.

"Lucy will clean this mess later." John said smiling as Margaret nodded in agreement.

Yutaka could not take anymore but knew he had to.

"One more." Called the echoed girl's voice. Yutaka knew the drill and shut his eyes.

He opened them again and he was stood in what appeared to be a little girl's bedroom. Metal music was booming out of the stereo and a little girl wearing a blue dress and had shoulder length black hair was lying on her bed chilling out.

"Lucy turn that shit off!" Yelled a voice from downstairs. It was her mother. Lucy ignored her.

"Lucy did you hear what I said you little bitch?!" Her mother shouted from the stairs.

"Fuck you!" Lucy retorted maliciously.

"What did you say?" Her mother asked with her voice sounding much angrier than before.

"I said fuck you!" Lucy replied again sounding harsh.

After a little while her mother burst through the bedroom door with a flick knife in her hand. Lucy looked up in shock at her mother. Then she looked at the flick knife, sat up on her bed and cowered in the corner of it.

"Please I'm sorry." Lucy said panicking.

"Too late now you little bitch!" Retorted her mother.

Lucy looked panicked and her mother could see her frightened look in her eyes.

Her mother wore a dark smile on her face.

"Why do you never talk?" Lucy's mother taunted.

"Please…" Lucy pleaded.

"I told you, Lucy it's too late!" Yelled her mother.

"NO!" Lucy cried as her mother swiped at her with the flick knife. It slashed across Lucy's right arm just below her elbow, leaving an angry looking slash.

Yutaka looked at all of her scars that covered her arms and legs. He felt ill. He saw blood trickling down her arm onto her bed and began to pack her All That Remains backpack with her favourite belongings, including her mp3 player, her CDs, walkman and her Alissa doll.

She also packed her bed clothing. Her blood was staining the carpet.

She left the room. The scenery changed to that of the kitchen. Her mother was washing Lucy's blood off of the flick knife.

Mia, Lucy's sister, walked in. She seemed concerned about Lucy's cut while Lucy looked momentarily at her. Then she turned and trudged out of the door.

"That was the last time anybody saw me." Said the echoed voice.

Before he knew it, Yutaka was back in the grimy room tied to a chair with handcuffs.

Lucy was sitting on the floor in front of Yutaka with her hair hung over her face and looking at the floor.

"Now do you see why vengeance is so important to me?" Lucy asked Yutaka who was still upset. He nodded his head.

"That wasn't all of what they did. My daddy tried to exorcise me once when I was three. It would have killed me. He hung me from the ceiling from my arms and tried to cleanse and purify me with words from the bible. It never worked. All of them tried to hurt or kill me so many times. They always stated their wishes to behead me to free my demon. I have no demon." Lucy explained while she continually poked the mucky floor with her finger.

"That's why your father's "ritual" did not work." Yutaka determined before Lucy nodded her head in agreement.

"Who were the people who tortured you?" Yutaka asked knowing now is the time to ask her.

"My mommy Francine was the biggest perpetrator. Her parents and my grandparents were John and Margaret Carrington. My father was Nick Colvin and my aunt and uncle were Kay and Lee Colvin. That makes me……Lucy Colvin-Carrington." Lucy revealed.

Yutaka was wide eyed with shock.

"You're my cousin. The one that went missing three years ago. My mother is your mother's older sister. That means I am not pure Japanese." Yutaka explained. Lucy nodded as she already knew.

"My mommy and daddy never got married. They split up when I was two. None of them wanted custody of me but my mommy had to." Lucy explained. Yutaka couldn't believe how sick minded they were.

"Why did they abuse you?" He asked wanting to know more.

"When I was born, objects in the hospital began to float about and did so wherever I went. So they took me to the church a week later and the vicar determined I was the gift from the devil himself, a way he could see how the world functioned, through me.

My family claimed that they beat me, cut me and tried to kill me to rid my soul of the demon that inhabited it. Of course my family is very religious. It never worked because I never had a demon inside me. God, and by extent the devil, does not exist. It is all in the minds. If God existed, he would have answered my prayers when I was very young. Not once were my prayers answered. If God does not exist, then neither does the devil." Lucy explained as her eyes looked deep into Yutaka's.

A minion of the Black Mamba clan entered the room as Lucy untied Yutaka.

"What's going on?" Yutaka asked demandingly as the handcuffs slipped off and he got up.

"Put this on. You'll need it." The minion replied as he produced the traditional Black Mamba clan ninja suit. It was grey with Black Mambas on the arms, torso and legs.

Yutaka looked at Lucy and she nodded, requesting that he indeed does wear it.

Yutaka eventually accepted. He removed the black Golden Dragon suit and put on the Black Mamba suit.

"This feels strange." Yutaka said as he did feel strange.

"If you ever wondered why I even survived in the woodlands, it is because these guys kept me well nourished." Lucy stated.

"I only killed a few because I did not want them to harm you." She continued.

"I feel guilty." Yutaka replied gently with his head down.

"Fear not, fellow ninja. Our leader has forgiven you for your deeds against our clan. We also need a ninja of your quality and bravery, for we have many under trained ninjas who could learn many great lessons from you." The minion explained.

"Thank you." He said bowing in respect to his now fellow ninja.

"What's happening?" He asked the minion.

"The Kuromokuzai village is ablaze in flames. The Golden Dragon clan has declared war on us and we're fighting them inside the village. We have to teach them a final lesson and show them they are not welcome around here anymore." The minion explained.

Yutaka initially appeared concerned. The village he has known for so long is burning uncontrollably.

"Let's go." He declared. The minion and Lucy nodded in agreement. Then they headed outside to the blazing village.


	8. Blazing Fury

**Blazing Fury:**

Outside, the houses and buildings in the Kuromokuzai village were indeed ablaze, wildfires spreading throughout almost every building with a number of huge choking funnels of smoke billowing up towards the sky. Yutaka stood momentarily, saddened by the sight of the village he has known for so long as the fire glowed against the dark night sky.

Lucy snapped him out of his trance.

"Come on. We need to get in the fight." She explained and Yutaka came to his senses once again.

"Right. This will be strange for me. Fighting the clan I shed blood, sweat and tears for and loved it like a relative." Yutaka explained still feeling emotional effects from seeing Lucy's past and seeing his home village burning to the ground.

"I'm sorry, Keiji, I really am but we cannot change the past. Only the future," The minion replied trying to make Yutaka feel slightly better.

A number of loud battle cries could be heard between the two warring clans' ninjas. Menacing thunderclouds were gathered overhead, dispelling their rain down onto the Kuromokuzai village and the battling ninjas as they fought for their clans.

The fire was still raging strong despite the weather conditions and the choking smoke still billowed into the sky.

Lightning repeatedly ripped across the sky harshly.

All of a sudden an air raid siren could be heard, possibly because of the warring clans.

Yutaka looked on nervously at the battle. Swords were clashing everywhere and blood that had hit the floor had been washed away into red rivers by the constant torrent of soaking rain.

"Keiji you must help us." The Black Mamba clan minion urged.

"OK I'm just finding it hard to adjust." Yutaka replied.

He quickly swallowed his pride and slowly unsheathed the Dragon Sword.

"Could you help me get to my Mommy's house?" Lucy requested.

"Sure." Yutaka replied. The minion nodded as if to say he is coming with them.

They headed towards the immense battle.

Yutaka forgot about his past with the now enemy Golden Dragon Clan and took a ninja out with a precise slice to the jugular. The ninja clasped the wound with his hand just realizing that his throat had been slit open and blood gushed out of the wound onto the road below. Yutaka raised a dark smile.

Another Golden Dragon ninja quickly approached Yutaka from behind and very nearly got away with it until Yutaka saw the Katana he was brandishing. Yutaka dashed behind his opponent who had no idea where he went. Next he thrust his sword into the ninja's back and held it against his vertebrae before cutting clean through it. Yutaka's opponent screamed in pain and anarchy as his body gruesomely flopped over backwards with a stream of blood from his body snaking slowly along the road.

More lightning tore the sky open and thunderclaps heard as rain pelted the warring ninjas and the village with an onslaught of its own.

"Didn't you ever get a visit from The Woodsmen, Lucy?" Yutaka asked randomly. Lucy looked puzzled and shook her head.

"I heard they were killers who hunted those who dared venture into the woodlands and torture them." Yutaka explained.

Again Lucy shook her head as she looked at the burning village's houses.

"Alright, just a thought." Yutaka muttered as he cut off a ninja's sword wielding arm. Then he thrust his sword up and clean through his enemy's neck before the head fell to the floor, blood erupting from the stump.

"That was close." Yutaka remarked as he relieved sweat from his brow with his gloved hand.

Yutaka and the minion fought through the hordes of enemy ninjas, clearing the way for Lucy and mercilessly spilling the blood of the opponents, leaving many dead bodies in their wake.

Lucy looked at the still intact and not burning at all house where many bright lights shone through the windows.

"This is it." Lucy whispered as she looked alternately at both Yutaka and the Black Mamba clan minion. She put her hand on the flowers in the front garden and smiled.

"One of the only good things about my past life here." She uttered quietly as she knelt beside some of the floral arrangements.

Lucy looked at Yutaka and smiled. She could feel the bond between her and Yutaka was strengthening. Yutaka smiled warmly back as Lucy got up again.

She put a finger to her lips indicating to Yutaka and the minion to keep the noise down. Then she opened a window, clambered up to it and ushered herself through while making minimum sound. Then she gestured to the minion and Yutaka to follow her inside. They did so with minimum fuss and sound.

"Back me up." Lucy requested as the minion and Yutaka nodded. She sat down on the floor beside the kitchen door and told Yutaka and the minion to be on standby in the shadows in case something goes wrong.

Francine Carrington was washing up the plates and cutlery in the kitchen sink. She looked out of the window in front of her, a faded orange glow of fire lit against the dark sky in the distance momentarily catching her eye. It didn't bother her even slightly as she went back to cleaning the cutlery.

The kitchen light went out plunging the room into darkness. Francine looked puzzled but could not see anything.

She went back to wash up again but by then the light was back on. Francine looked at the window again and saw her reflection was not the only one. A young girl stood at the far end of the kitchen beside the light switch with her back against the wall.

Her long black hair hung over her face and she wore a blue dress. Lucy.

Francine was wide eyed with shock and turned round just as the light went out again, enveloping her in darkness.

She quickly went over to the light switch as her breathing was gradually getting faster through worrying.

As she reached for the switch, a hand viciously grabbed her wrist tightly. Francine screamed in shock. She could feel bumps in the arm the hand belonged to, as if they were scars. Hair was brushing against Francine's hand, it felt dirty and unwashed.

When the light turned back on again, Francine's worst fears were confirmed. The little girl she saw as a reflection in the window stood before her with her hand wrapped tightly around Francine's wrist and her dark hair hung over her face still with some of it still rubbing harshly against Francine's hand.

Francine's fear was such that it prevented her from screaming or saying anything. She looked at the girl and something in her mind clicked when she noticed the familiarity of the now tattered dark blue dress and the large number of deep scars that coated her arms and legs.

"My god. Lucy!" She exclaimed gasping in shock.

"Mommy!" Lucy retorted with malice. Lucy brushed her hair away from her face with her free hand and her demonic looking red eyes looking enraged at her mother.

"Aren't you pleased to see me? It's been three years." Francine asked already knowing why.

"Why would I be?" Lucy replied with a question, also knowing the answer already.

"Well I don't know. I just thought you missed me and the family because of your lengthy hiatus away from us." Francine replied covering up the real reasons.

"After what you and they did to me, I don't think so." Lucy retorted.

"Well if that's how you feel, that's your choice. Anyway, your hair is a right mess and it's a little too long don't you think?" Francine asked changing the subject deliberately.

"Leave my hair alone, its fine." Lucy replied with malice as she held her hair in front of Francine before giggling.

"Get a shower then!" Francine ordered.

"You still don't get it do you, mommy. I'm not here to stay." Lucy said answering back harshly.

"Maybe this will help your thick brain go to work." She continued. Francine heard blades clash as Lucy produced her Glaive.

"While I'm not staying here anymore, you're not staying anywhere anymore." Lucy said with a rough tone and malice.

"Now let's not be too hasty." Francine said as she backed into the wall.

Lucy noted a metal pole in the corner of the kitchen.

"If you let it, me and God could rid your soul of the demon who feeds on it. Through me, God's work could be carried forth and the demon will be vanquished back to the nether regions of hell from whence it came." Francine said in false explanation and suddenly locked deep within religious thought.

"God cannot carry his work out because he does not exist. I do not have a demon locked inside my soul. I have Schizophrenia, so deal with it." Lucy revealed. Francine would not accept this and began to whine for the bible many times.

Lucy became annoyed. She grabbed the metal pole and pierced it all the way through Francine's left leg, thus impaling it. Francine screamed in pain as blood sporadically spurted from the wound and onto the sparkling kitchen floor, pooling as it did so.

"Do you remember this?" Lucy asked demandingly. Francine burst into tears and nodded her head.

"Stop crying like a baby!" Lucy ordered, echoing what Francine had said three years ago when the same thing had happened to Lucy. In a quaint and picturesque park.

Lucy looked at Francine up and down and shook her head in hatred for her own mother.

"I bet you don't know how long I've been wanting to do this, do you?" Lucy asked with dark delight. Francine shook her head.

"Six years. Oh it went horribly slow." Lucy revealed in sadistic pleasure.

"Now stop your whining to God and all of his pretend friends. He will not save you. He's not real. He is in your warped mind in pretentious existence, as is any demon and the devil himself." Lucy demanded then explained. Her voice and facial expression angry.

"Would you kindly tell me who the vicar of Apple Orchard's Church is?" Lucy asked demandingly.

"Or I will resort to hurting." She threatened while holding her Glaive to Francine's throat.

"Please don't hurt me anymore." Francine pleaded while choking back tears.

"Then tell me what I want to hear." Lucy said quietly yet forcefully.

"What is all that commotion." Asked a voice calling from upstairs. It sounded familiar.

Then the sound of somebody descending the staircase could be heard.

When he approached the kitchen door, Lucy looked horrified and angry. He was clad in a black ninja suit that had blood stains on it of various ages.

"Takahashi." Lucy said as her eyes looked at him with pure malice.

"Ah it's the little bitch. Me and Francine love each other very much and have done so for a while now." Takahashi explained.

"It would never last." Lucy said taunting Takahashi as her mother cried freely.

Takahashi then saw Francine backed against the wall in cold fear, standing in a large pool of blood that dripped from her bloody impaled leg. Lucy stared coldly at Takahashi as her face wore a dark smile. She giggled darkly and sadistically.

Takahashi did not take kindly to this and slapped Lucy hard around her face, causing Lucy to fall on her hands and knees.

Takahashi brought his boot down on Lucy's back making her fall flat on her stomach as he left it there making sure Lucy could not get up.

Lucy saw blood falling onto the floor and wiped her mouth along her arm. There was now a smear of blood on her arm and now she was enraged.

"Do you really think you've stopped me." She asked Takahashi as blood continued dripping from her mouth. Takahashi just chuckled knowingly.

Then Lucy reacted fast causing Takahashi's foot to slide off her back and she turned around and slashed open Takahashi's stomach with her Glaive.

Takahashi stood in shock as blood sprayed from the wound.

Francine screamed loudly as Takahashi fell to the floor. Lucy was getting extremely annoyed with her mother and viciously slapped her around the face causing Francine's screams to come to a complete stop. Now Francine was breathing noisily and she grimaced heavily and weakly.

"Yutaka." Lucy called out and soon enough Yutaka and the Black Mamba clan minion headed in to the kitchen.

"Are you alright, Lucy?" Yutaka asked as he took a look at Lucy's mouth that still dripped with blood.

"I'm fine; just make sure he stays there." Lucy replied as she pointed at Takahashi.

Yutaka and the minion nodded in agreement as they stood over the weakened slumped Takahashi.

Lucy turned her attention back to her mother Francine who was also weakened from blood loss.

"Where were we, mommy?" Lucy asked trying to remember what she was lecturing Francine over.

"Ah yes I was asking you for the name of that vicar from the church down the road. What is it?" Lucy asked as she indeed remembered.

"I don't know." Francine replied plainly and weakly. It seemed as if she was covering up the information Lucy wants.

Lucy inserted her Glaive on Francine's arm just below the elbow.

"You're lying." Lucy retorted as she knew Francine's answer did not sound right.

"I told you I don't know." Francine answered insistently.

Lucy swiped her Glaive across Francine's arm, cutting it open and more screams of pain followed.

"Do you remember when you did that to me?" Lucy asked demanding an answer. Francine nodded weakly as Lucy began to cry, tears rolling down her pale cheeks.

"His name is Clive Thomas." Francine revealed. Lucy smiled beside her tears of sadness and regret.

"You don't have to do this." Francine said pleading.

"I do." Lucy replied through her crying.

"I could change, Lucy if you give me a chance. I realize now that I was wrong. You are my daughter, Lucy." Francine pleaded desperately.

"I can't. I don't trust you. You're making this hard for me." Lucy replied desperate to get this over with, her tears still falling down her cheeks.

"Please, Lucy just one more chance. I'm begging you." Francine pleaded, now begging.

Mia and Louis, Lucy's brother and sister were at the kitchen door, horrified by all the blood on the floor from Francine's and Takahashi's wounds. Lucy did not know they were there.

"I'm sorry. I cannot trust you ever for what you did to me. I never will." Lucy said through sadness and tears.

Lucy spun her mother around as she stood against the wall.

"What have you become?" Francine asked softly but sternly.

"I don't know." Lucy replied as her crying and sniffling became more intense.

With that Lucy proceeded to pierce her Glaive through Francine's neck as it poked through and out of the back of her neck. Takahashi yelled weakly in a plea to get Lucy to stop but it didn't work. Blood sprayed from both ends of Francine's wound.

Lucy forced to her almost dead mother to the floor, onto her back as Lucy crouched over her, forcing her Glaive further through Francine's neck as blood continued to gush out heavier than before.

She forced her Glaive all the way through Francine's neck with almost all of her strength, detaching Francine's head from her body.

Lucy sat beside the headless body of her mother crying her eyes out. She dropped her Glaive to the floor. The Black Mamba clan minion blurted out one of the worst puns ever.

"Now that is what I call crouching malice." Yutaka shook his head at how bad it was.

"I've become a monster." Lucy said as she thought back on her killing spree that she had embarked on.

Yutaka knelt down beside her.

"She had it coming to her, Lucy." He said trying to make her feel better.

"What did mommy do?" Mia asked as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Abused me all my life." Lucy replied.

"She never told us that." Mia revealed.

"I didn't think she would." Lucy replied a little angrier, though tears still streamed down her face.

"I'm so glad you're still alive though, Lucy. It's been horrible without you." Mia said smiling.

"Yeah, I always had you in my thoughts to. You and Louis always loved me." Lucy replied with a smile.

Mia and Lucy exchanged a loving hug and Lucy cried even more because of the fact she was not used to this feeling.

"Don't worry, Lucy. You'll always be the best sister I could have asked for." Mia said smiling.

"You too." Lucy replied smiling also. They were both still crying for a mixture of reasons.

Mia changed the topic.

"You smell, Lucy." She said giggling as she referenced Lucy's poor hygiene.

"I know." Lucy replied as she giggled too.

"I love you, Lucy." Mia said showing her family love.

"I love you too." Lucy replied as she tightened the hug.

"Come on, Lucy we have to go." Yutaka called to her.

Lucy looked at Yutaka and nodded in agreement as she let go of Mia's hug.

Yutaka turned to the minion of the Black Mamba clan.

"Could you look after Lucy's brother and sister while we hunt down Lucy's last target?" Yutaka asked him.

The minion nodded and before long Yutaka and Lucy were on their way towards the church. Unfortunately the warring clans were now fighting along the only route to the church. Almost the whole of Kuromokuzai village was ablaze.

The stench of blood polluted the air around them and dead bodies littered the streets. Rain still fell hard and fast and lightning cracked open the sky along with the deadly roar of thunder.

"Are you ready, Lucy?" Yutaka asked as he was ready to wade into the crowd of warring minions.

Lucy nodded as she still thought back on whether she was right to dispose of her family members that made her life a living hell.

Yutaka looked at her and knew something was concerning her. So he hugged Lucy. Lucy smiled as she looked at him. She hugged him back.

Then a harsh scream filled the night momentarily. Both Yutaka and Lucy snapped to it.

Yutaka ran ahead of Lucy to make the warring crowd sparser for Lucy to follow him. He unsheathed the Dragon Sword and prepared to use it against his former allies of the Golden Dragon clan.

He quickly grabbed one from out of the crowd and knocked the Katana from his hands before delivering a neat slash across the torso, cutting him in half. Yutaka then went into the crowd and sliced off the feet of another opponent and finished him off by lodging his sword deep into his opponent's head.

He removed the sword from his enemy's head and took on another who cut open his left arm. This angered Yutaka somewhat and he wrestled the Katana from his enemy who did not expect that at all. Then Yutaka delivered a double deadly blow, removing his opponent's head with the Katana and slicing across the torso, splitting the body in two with the Dragon Sword.

Another opponent had his fate sealed when he used his sword and the fallen opponent's Katana to cut off both arms and then lodge them through his enemy's eyes.

Lucy watched in awe as Yutaka defeated opponent after opponent, blood spraying wherever he went.

Yutaka noticed one Golden Dragon minion was holding an innocent tourist hostage. Yutaka went up behind the laughing opponent and with his sword he lopped his still laughing enemy's head from his shoulders.

Blood erupted from the stump as the tourist fell from the headless Golden Dragon ninja's grasp.

Lucy ran over to Yutaka. Her hair was drenched and her dress soaked through. Yutaka's ninja suit was soaked with both rain and blood. Blood was also dripping from the cut he received.

"Thank you. You saved my life." The tourist said in pure relief and gratitude.

"No problem er….." Yutaka replied trying to guess her name.

"Just call me Syiren. I only go by my nickname." She explained.

"I see." Yutaka replied as he handed her the Katana.

"You want me to kill?" She asked worried.

"No just in self defence. Me and Lucy here will keep you covered." Yutaka explained as Lucy looked at Syiren with her demon like red eyes.

"Aren't you a bit young for this." Syiren asked Lucy.

"No. I wouldn't be doing it otherwise." Lucy replied plainly.

"Come on. We have to get to the church." Yutaka urged.

Lucy and Syiren nodded in agreement and they trudged to the Apple Orchard's Church nearby, leaving the battle behind.

They entered the church and looked down the grand passageways lit with chandeliers. Candles were also lit and there were photos and paintings hung up on the wall of past vicars and the church itself.

Yutaka pushed open the doors to the main room where a vicar could be seen praying at the altar.

He quickly noticed the arrivals.

"Ah, Yutaka. The war is ravaging on, the Black Mamba clan are savages. Wait a minute, you are wearing their dress code. You've brought the devil child with you. What on earth do you think you are doing? That child was banished from this church years ago." The vicar asked and explained.

"I brought her here because she has something to say to you." Yutaka replied as he looked angrily at the vicar.

"Clive Thomas I assume." Lucy began before the vicar nodded his head.

"I know you are responsible for the abuse I took from many members of my family. You declared I had a demon in my soul. That is a lie and you knew it. I was gifted with my psychic ability since before I was born. It has nothing to do with devil worshipping, the work of the devil or anything of the kind. You did it to enhance your so called fearsome reputation.

However none of that will help you now. I am here to seal your demise that you so richly deserve." Lucy explained as she scowled at Clive.

"Well there has to be something evil within your soul. Psychic phenomenon doesn't come around commonly." Clive said desperate to conjure up an explanation.

"No, it's a very rare condition and I was gifted with it. Being a psychic doesn't necessarily mean you are evil." Lucy explained for a second time.

"Don't kill me. God will help me." Clive pleaded before he smiled darkly.

"God cannot help you. He's just in your mind like the devil." Lucy retorted as she came towards him with her Glaive in hand.

"Please don't kill me." Clive begged as he sunk to his knees.

"Give me a good reason why I shouldn't." Lucy demanded as she continued to advance towards him. Clive could not think of one.

"You turned the village against me as well. I remember now. That will explain why nobody was around on the day I went missing. The whole search party thing was a hoax just to make Kuromokuzai look good. This village is one big lie." Lucy said remembering and scowling still at Clive.

Clive nodded as he could not lie about it anymore.

"Well you may as well perish along with the village." Lucy declared. Clive did nothing as Lucy got ready to throw her Glaive and eliminate her last target.

"Say goodbye to everything you knew." Lucy said taunting him.

Clive simply accepted his fate as he took one last breath. Before he knew it his head had parted from his shoulders, spilling blood onto the church floor. Lucy, now relieved, sat down to get her breath back.

Yutaka smiled knowing Lucy was happy now; her bad days would be no more. Syiren just hung back in waiting for them.

Suddenly the church went pitch black. Lucy and Yutaka wondered how, but a chandelier dislodged itself from the ceiling and took Yutaka out when it landed on him with full force. Yutaka blacked out moments later.

Yutaka woke up inside an airport departure lounge.

"Where am I?" He asked himself as he looked around, gazing at the various shops and structures within the terminal. On the wall it read 'Kobe Airport' in large silver letters.

He was still wearing his Black Mamba ninja suit to conceal his identity although the suit was now free of blood.

He was worried as he was seemingly alone as none of the people around him were at all recognisable.

Then he saw a pair of small arms wrap around him from behind. They were covered in scars.

"Lucy." Yutaka said in relief.

"What's the matter?" Lucy asked softly as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Where are we?" He replied with a question of his own.

"We're going to Belmont in Florida. You organised it last night, remember." Lucy replied.

"I can't remember. It all went so fast." Yutaka said as he clutched his aching head.

Yutaka looked up to the television screen to see a news reporter standing in front of what appeared to be the remains of many burned out buildings, the smoke still rising towards the sky.

"Kuromokuzai, a village not far from Kobe was completely destroyed by a wildfire. Hundreds of people perished not only by the fire, but from the hands of two viciously warring ninja clans. The blood of the fallen still stains the roads and pathways even now. What was once a peaceful village has now been left in ruins from the violent battle that took place here." The news reporter blared as Yutaka couldn't believe it.

"We're going to start a new life." Lucy said with a smile, her head still rested on Yutaka's shoulder.

"Yes, but I never knew that Golden Dragon were evil. I was actually a big part of taking the good guys of Black Mamba down and I regret that." Yutaka said as his head pointed downwards.

"No need. The reason our ninjas interrogated you was because we needed to confirm the clan were planning to destroy Kuromokuzai but obviously you knew nothing about it. Just forget about it." The Black Mamba clan minion explained as he seemed to appear out of nowhere. He was with Mia, Louis and Syiren.

"The 11:52 flight to Belmont is ready to be boarded." Blurted the announcer for the airport through the speaker system.

"Here we go. Time to say goodbye to Japan, Yutaka." Lucy said smiling still.

"Yeah, it's gonna be weird. I hope this is gonna be a good thing." Yutaka replied as he smiled back at Lucy.

"Please take your seat as soon as possible." Blared the pilot over the plane's speaker system.

Lucy and Yutaka took their seats and Lucy immediately rested her head on Yutaka's stomach. Yutaka stroked her hair with his hand.

"I love you." Lucy said lovingly to him.

"I love you too." Yutaka replied with the same amount of sincerity as Lucy. Lucy smiled.

Mia, Louis, the minion and Syiren sat in seats across from them.

"Please put your seatbelts on as we are ready to go." The pilot said over the plane's speaker system.

Lucy and Yutaka obeyed as they now sat back in their seats, seatbelts on and ready for take off.

Lucy felt the adrenalin rush kick in as the plane began to speed up down the runway. It felt alien to her as the plane took off. She loved the weird split second feeling of the take off.

Two hours into their flight, Lucy had her head rested on Yutaka's stomach again. She was asleep. Yutaka was stroking her hair again to relax her. He smiled at the fact that they had bonded with each other.

Unforeseen by Yutaka, Lucy's red eyes were awake again and her face wore a dark smile.

Then all the lights and power in the plane noisily shut off for no reason as the screams of the passengers around them dominated the plane.

Then the engine's shut off with the sound of the pilot's voice ringing in everybody's ears.

"Mayday, mayday we are going down!" The pilot yelled in panic…………….


End file.
